1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited, first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. It compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics to be the most important, influential, and best in popular music between the 1950s and the 2000s.[1] The book was edited by Robert Dimery, a writer and editor who had previously worked for magazines such as Time Out and Vogue.[2]

Each entry in the book's list of albums is accompanied by a short essay written by a music critic, along with pictures, quotes, and additional information (such as the album's running time and producer). Only albums consisting fully of original material by a particular artist were included, which meant that compilations by various artists, including film soundtracks, were also excluded.[citation needed]

Contents

In February 2006, Publishers Weekly called the book a "...bookshelf-busting testament to music geeks' mania for lists" and said it "...is about as comprehensive a 'best-of' as any sane person could want." They continued, "For music lovers, it doesn't get much better."[4] The 2006 version had an average rating of 3.92 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com's social cataloging website Goodreads, with 860 ratings as of April 30, 2015.[5] The same 2006 version had an average rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com, with 55 reviews as of April 30, 2015.[6]

Originally published in 2005, the book was revised in 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2016 to include newly released albums. The 2011 edition includes 25 albums released from 2005 to 2009, with the same number of albums removed from the first edition to keep the total at 1001.